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Ann Hastings
Ann Hastings is a character portrayed by Valerie Azlynn in the ABC crime series Castle. She is a uniformed police officer working in the 12th Precinct who becomes a murder suspect in the episode Heroes and Villains. Background Hastings later gives some details about her own history. Her father, who ran a dry cleaning service, was murdered in a hold-up over eighty dollars. The crime was never solved. The next day, Hastings applied to the police academy. As a police officer, she received top evaluations and several awards. Hastings admitted that she'd always admired Beckett and wanted to be like her. She first appears as an incidental character in "Rise". She is a uniformed police officer with a minor speaking role. In the following episode, "Heroes and Villains", it is revealed that she has been moonlighting as a costumed vigilante called "Lone Vengeance". As a "superhero", Hastings maintained what Castle described as a "Superhero Lair on a Budget" in an abandoned building. The apartment had a secret panel that revealed a collection of samurai swords, which she used in her crime-fighting. Party to her secret was the journalist and part-time comic writer Paul Whittaker. As Lone Vengeance, she once saved Paul during a mugging, which eventually lead to a relationship. Whittaker chronicled her exploits in an online comic book series under the pen name Sean Elt, and eventually became her boyfriend. As a journalist, he would sometimes give her information he'd received from his sources, which she then used in her crimefighting. The Tyler Faris Murder Tyler Faris was a low-life street criminal who'd gotten into an altercation with mafia man Tony "The Butcher" Valtini. Valtini, meanwhile, faced increasing interference in his business from the meddling crimefighter Lone Vengeance. He decided to kill two birds with one stone. Donning an imitation Lone Vengeance costume, he murdered Faris with a sword in an alley, intending to frame Lone Vengeance. The ploy works at first. Castle and Beckett question Valtini, but when he produces security camera footage of Lone Vengeance intimidating him, the investigation shifts to the vigilante instead. The two uncover a copycat superhero, then arrest Paul Whittaker, who they believe is the real Lone Vengeance. Paul confesses to the murder in a misguided attempt to protect Hastings. Eventually, Castle and Beckett track down and unmask Hastings. Hastings admits to being Lone Vengeance, but denies being the killer. She has been conducting her own parallel investigation, realizing that someone is trying to frame her. Eventually, Castle and Beckett come to the same conclusion, and suspicion falls back onto Valtini. Eventually, more evidence is uncovered which implicates him unequivocally. Ann's vigilante activities should be grounds for dismissal and possibly even criminal charges. At Gates's prompting, Beckett decides that since there were so many people running around wearing the costumes and claiming to be Lone Vengeance, it's impossible to prove that Hastings was involved in any particular illegal act, so long as she never adopts the persona again. She and Paul Whittaker are released and got her job back. Back on Duty Hastings returned to duty and appears again in After the Storm, where she is on security detail for Senator William Bracken. Unaware of Beckett's suspension and resignation, she assumes that Beckett is on the same assignment and permits Beckett to jump the line and avoid the metal detectors on her way to confront him. As she does, she gives Beckett a meaningful look and says, "For you, of course." Notes *The character of Ann Hastings is played by Valerie Azlynn. She was in the main cast of Sullivan & Son, a comedy on TBS before it was cancelled. There was speculation that she might return to Castle on a regular basis or recurring basis. Hastings, Ann Hastings, Ann Hastings, Ann Hastings, Ann Hastings, Ann Hastings, Ann Hastings, Ann